Umbrella.



F. J. HEISLER. UMBRELLA. APPLICATION man sun 25, um.

Patented July 1915.

jazz azS M6 856 749 FRANCIS J. HEISLER, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

UMBRELLA.

Application filed July 25, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANcIs J. Hnrsnnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Umbrellas, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in umbrellas or parasols.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide an umbrella ofsuch construction that any one of the central parts may be renewed orremoved by the owner without necessitating the employment of aspecialist in umbrella work.

According to my invention, the umbrella ribs are adapted to be sprunginto or out of hinged relation with the staff so that at any time one ofthe ribs becomes bent, broken or otherwise impaired, a new rib can bereadily substituted.

My invention also includes an improved form of runner whereby thestretchers may be sprung into and out of hinged or pivotal connectiontherewith for purposes of renewal in case of breakage or otherimpairment.

In the drawing :-F igure 1 is a view partly in section and partly inelevation of an umbrella embodying my preferred construction. Fig. 2 isa sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective View ofone-of the head terminals of the ribs or stretchers.. Fig. 4 is asectional view on line 47-4: of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailsectional view showing the manner in which the cover is secured to theribs.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout thedifferent figures of the drawing.

As illustrated, 1 designates an umbrella staff having a tip end 2 and aretaining shoulder 3. At least a portion of the staff is tubular, moreparticularly at the handle end 4:, as will be seen more particularly byreference to Fig. 4. The staff 1 is provided with a spring retainer 5for retaining the rib ferrule or sleeve 6 against the shoulder 3, andthe staff is also provided with spring runner retainers 7 and 8, forretaining the umbrella in open and closed positions.

Referring more particularly to the run ner 9, the same comprises asleeve having its upper margin projecting annularly therefrom, asindicated at 10, the outer margin 11, being shaped to form one half ofan Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915.

Serial No. 852,982.

annular spring socket, the material of which the runner is formed, beingsufficiently resilient to provide for spring action. The other half ofthe annular socket is formed by a socket disk 12, which is secured tosocket portion 10 by means such as rivets 13. The socket disk 12,outwardly from the rivets 13, is annularly concaved, as indicated at14;, so as to form with the lower portion 11, a complete annular socket.Outwardly from the fastening means 13, the peripheral margins are freeto be separated upon attachment or rather insertion therebetween of theheads of the stretchers. In order to permit of hinging movement of thestems of the stretchers, the socket disk 12 is radially slit asindicated at 15, for a purpose which will presently appear.

The stretchers are indicated at 16 and the same are provided withrounded enlarged heads 17, which are adapted to be sprung between theperipheral lips 18 into the annular socket of the runner, as shown. Theperipheral lips 18 extend toward each other to embrace the heads 17 buttheir extreme edges diverge slightly to permit'of locating the headsprior to thrust on the same to thrust them into the socket. As shownmore particularly in Fig. 2, the heads 17 are T- shaped and arein theform of elongated ovals and are transversely circular so as to providefor a ball and socket engagement in the runner 9. Furthermore, the heads17 are arced about the staff as a center so as to effectively seat inthe socket and conform to the annular contour thereof.

In order to maintain the stretchers in prescribed spaced relation, Ipreferably elongate the heads 17 so that they will be disposed in end toend abutting relation in the socket, as indicated at 19, therebyavoiding rattling whichmight result if. the heads had any free play. Asa further precaution against displacement of the stretchers with respectto each other, I proportion the same so that they will. be engaged bythe wall edges of the slits 15, in any position which the stretchers mayassume. It will now be seen that any one of the stretchers may be sprungout of or into the runner socket without effecting the remainingstretchers because the slit walls will hold the remaining stretchers inposition.

The umbrella ribs are indicated at 20, and they may be pivotallyconnected with the stretchers 16 by a conventional form of fitting,indicated as a whole at 21. Longitudinally spaced along each rib atsuitabledistances are a plurality of collapsible studs 22, which areshown as projecting from the up.- per faces of the ribs. A cover isindicated at 23 and'the same is provided with openings to permit ofprojection therethrough of the studs 22, as shown in Fig. 5, so that thecover may be readily and accurately positioned on the ribs. In order tosecure the cover in position, I provide sockets 2 1 which are adapted tobe sprung over the studs 22, after the manner of a glove fastener. Itwill thus be seen that the cover is carried wholly by the ribs as itmerely extends to the rib sleeve 6 but not beyond the same.

In order to concealthe sleeve 6, when the umbrella is viewed from theexterior, of the cover, the usual form of tip protector may be fastenedto the staff tip 2 so as to spread out over the sleeve 6 in overlappingrelation with the inner margin of the cover 23. However, inasmuch asthis form of protector is not novel, it has not been shown. The sleeve 6constitutes means for connecting the ribs, hingedly, with the staff 1,and will now be described in detail. Said sleeve 6 comprises upper andlower sleeve sections 125 and 26, respectively, which are exposed in endto end abutting relation. The abutting portions of the sections extendoutwardly at the juncture thereof, and are riveted or secured togetherby means indicated at 27, in a manner similar to the structure shown inFig. 2. The outer margins 28 and 29 are shaped .to form an annularsocket, similar to that shown in Fig. 2, and the extreme marginal edges30 and 31 approach each other so as to embrace'the heads 32 with whichthe ribs 20 are provided. The socket portions 28 and 29 are suflicientlyresilient so as to permit the heads 32to be sprung into and out of thesame in a manner similar to the construction shown in Fig. 2., and Islit the portions 29, as indicated at 33, to perform a function similarto that of the slits 15.

The rib sleeve is shown held in a fixed position against the shoulder 3by the spring retainer 5, but it will be understood that if it isdesired to remove the sleeve from the staff 1, the retainer 5 may bedepressed so as to permit the sleeve 6 to he slid downwardly off of thestaif 1. Likewi'se,the runner 9 may be slid downwardly off from thestaff 1 so as to completely detach the staff from the frame. The runner9 is shown in Fig. 1 in an intermediate position between the retainer 7,which holds the umbrella open,-

and the retainer 8 which holds the umbrella closed.

It will now be seen that I have provided an umbrella structure whereinthe several parts are readily removable, thereby permittingamanufacturer to put the article on the market and supplyretail storeswith the ,tions, and ribs having 'T-shaped oval several parts which canbe sold to the purchaser to make repairs without necessitating thepurchase of an entirely new umbrella. It will be appreciated that theaverage unskilled person could not secure a cover to an umbrella frame,but with the device ofmy invention, this difficulty is not onlyobviated, but the purchaser or user in the case of a parasol, can notonly readily put on a new cover but can change the cover of the parasolso that it will correspond with the color of a gown to be worn.

In case it is desired to place the umbrella in a suit case, or it isdesired to reduce the length of the same, I provide a handle 34:, whichis adapted to telescope the tubular end 4. A spring 35 is shown securedin the handle 34;, at 36, and the spring 35 carries a locking stud orbutton 37 which is adapted to extend through openings in the handle 34:and the staff l to lock the handle in an extended position, or beretracted to permit3T of the handle'being telescoped into thesta It isbelieved that the advantages and utility of my invention will be clearfrom the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown anddescribed one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to be 2limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

It will be understood that wherever the terms rib and stretcher are usedin the by being thrust into and out of their sockets, that these termsare used withthe idea that a rib is the patentable equivalent of astretcher, and vice versa.

I claim 1. An umbrella including a staff, annular socket means on thestafl comprising coacting resilient separable peripheral socketportions, and ribs having heads adapted to be sprung into or out of saidmeans between said portions, substantially as described.

2. An umbrella including a stafi', annular socket means on the staffcomprising coacting resilient separable peripheral socket and ribshaving heads adapted to portions, be sprung into and out of said meansbetween said portions, said heads being elongated for end to endengagement when in position in said means to retain said ribs inprescribed radial'relation with respect to each other, substantially asdescribed.

3. An umbrella including a stall, annular socket means onthe staffcomprisingcoacting resilient separable peripheral socket porheads arcedabout the axis of the sitafi' as a center and adapted to be sprun intoand out of said means between said portions, said heads belngproportioned in length for end I to end engagement whe in position insaid means to retain sald ribs in prescribed radial relation withrespect to each other, substantially as described.

4:. An umbrella including a staff, a rib sleeve on said stafi comprisingsleeve sections in end to end abutting relation With the abuttingportions projecting radially and being secured together, the freepcripheral margins of said abutting portions being resilient and shapedto form an annular socket provided With radial slits, and ribs havingheads adapted to be sprung into and out of said socket from between saidmargins and adapted to be engaged by the edges of said slitted portionsto hold said ribs in prescribed radial relation With respect to eachother, substantially as described.

5. An umbrella including a staff and stretchers and a runner slidable onsaid stafi' and provided With an annular spring socket, said stretchershaving heads adapted to be sprung into and out of said socket,substantially as described.

6. An umbrella including a stafi' and stretchers, and a runner slidableon said stafl and provided with an annular spring socket having radialslits, said stretchers having heads adapted to be sprung into and out ofsaid socket and the edges of the slitted portions of said socketengaging said stretchers to hold the same in prescribed spaced relationwith respect to each other, substantially as described.

7. A11 umbrella including a staff and stretchers, and a runner slidableon said staff and provided With an annular spring socket, saidstretchers having T-shaped oval heads adapted to be sprung into and outof said socket and proportioned for end to end engagement to hold saidstretchers in prescribed spaced relation With respect to each other,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I hereby affix mysignature in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

FRANCIS J HEISLER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM C. HOFFMAN, CHARLES SGHWENKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

